⇨ CAMPING GROUNDS

[ringleaders]

Who: Everybody!
When: Day 64
Where: The Camping Grounds
What: While the Ringmaster attempts to purge the carnival of magical tracing spells and deal with the angry fire fae in her belly, everyone else is getting sent on an emergency camping trip with some unusual local fauna.
Warnings: Camping.

CRYPTIC CAMPGROUNDS↴ You're given about three hours to prepare, after the Ringmaster tells you her plans for the coming week. There is a vast selection of camping equipment at your disposal, and the means to take along enough food for the length of the stay. The wilderness of the planet you're left on is nearly idyllic, but some people just don't like the great outdoors. ► CRYPTOZOOLOGY: As it turns out, the carnival won't be alone here. There is a varied ecosystem of cryptids to be found as well, living in relative peace and mostly reacting to the newcomers with curiousity. More details can be found on the plotting post. You are free to NPC the cryptids as much as you need to, as long as you stick to the behaviours described. ► DREAMSHARING: There is a player plot going on which will allow characters to share dreams! These are specifically more dreams than nightmares, and the mushi-adept characters will be here to help. ► CHILLAX: There isn't any plot twist for this setting, so this is mostly an opportunity to decompress from the last plot and get ready for the future. The Ringmaster will show up occasionally to help with needed medical treatments and check on things, but won't stick around for long.

Comments

[kingsroads]

"I'd have thought it would be obvious that torturing and binding someone was a stupid decision," Strange snaps back.

Unconsciously, his hand goes to his wrists as he rubs the mirrored scratches.

Tigerstar | OTA

[catsatan]

i. GOTTA GO FAST - Day 64+

Oh, StarClan has certainly blessed Tigerstar today. That library was fascinating, if not a little on the annoying side, but this! This forest may not be his,but it still feels more like home than most of the other places he's been since joining the carnival. For once, Tigerstar is a very happy cat - and, in typical very happy cat fashion, he's going to be rushing around, enjoying the wind in his fur and the scents of bracken and soil. Here's hoping he doesn't run into anybody, or make too much noise with his late-night zoomies...

ii. STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT - Day 66+

Tigerstar's dreams involve a lot of things - hunting, probably some stranger things inspired by his recent carnival experiences, and likely more than a few power trips - but perhaps most interesting are those brought on by memories of his brief brushes with his ancestors. StarClan is a legion of fallen warriors young, old, large, and small, who are responsible for guiding their living descendants and granting leaders their nine lives. And, while they may not be here, they still stick around in Tigerstar's subconscious.

Any mushi-infected carnival worker might find themselves standing beside Tigerstar as he remembers his leader naming ceremony, something that begins with a trek through a winding tunnel underground...

iii. WILDCARD

Spend some quality time with Tigerstar while he's less of an angry furry jerk! He'll be spending most of his stay outside, hunting what small animals he can get a hold of and likely sleeping in places he really shouldn't be. He won't be infected by mushi himself, but those who are may also wander into hunting or training dreams (or maybe even some murder dreams).

[whattaprick]

The small tell has Lambert gritting his teeth all over again.

“Seems like it works out for them well enough,” he snaps back. “So what else did he do besides teach you better ways to kill people? Did he have a good rummage through your head too? I’d say you should get captured by the Rose Queen too so you can say which Summer Fae is the best at torture, but I think we can just ask Steven!”

[seniorvicejanitor]

[ oh tyki, rhys was gonna ask. he was gonna ask and you couldn't stop him.

for a moment, he just watches as the butterfly takes flight and then his gaze settles back on tyki. ]

Didn't know you had a pet.

[ at least it wasn't out and out asking? ]

[seniorvicejanitor]

Bad ones.

[ very enlightening, wasn't it? ]

Ones that make your face swell up and your eyes bleed.

[ see? bad. ]

Re: camping whyyyy

[seniorvicejanitor]

[ rhys startles slightly, glaring at the noise until he sees that it's someone having as much trouble with things as he is. ]

Me too!

[ he was glad he wasn't alone. ]

[kingsroads]

Strange's marshmallow is a solid 50% charcoal at the moment: he's completely forgotten about the fact that they were roasting marshmallows in the first place.

"The only thing you have to do is keep yourself safe. We both have people we need to see back in our worlds. We can't accomplish that if we're dead or maimed."

Or contracted by multiple fae, the voice in the back of Strange's head points out. This only makes him continue sulking, as he draws into himself a bit more.

[kingsroads]

Okay! He's in an orb now! This is his life!

To Strange's credit, he doesn't break it. Mostly because he knows that he's pretty much just covered via a sheet at the moment and reaching out to touch the bubble means that there's a high chance that someone would get a glimpse of dick or ass. But he is interested in the composition of the orb. While he's too sleepy to talk or do much, he's awake enough that he can just metaphorically flip on his third eye powers and stare at the pink orb for a moment or two.

This means that not only is Strange's hair still on fire, but now his forehead, hand, and forearm are also on fire.

[kingsroads]

The flames in Strange's hair start to burn brighter as these idiots go right back to yelling at each other. He sits up from where he's lying on the ground, mostly so he can glare at Lambert better.

"Do you even care about what he did, or are you looking for an excuse to justify your actions?"

[hippocarnival]

"But Gongenzaka is here." His face scrunches up in frustration. At least Yuzu's returned home, and he agrees with the sentiment. He doesn't really want to get hurt, but as long as he's here it seems more and more impossible.

And that's exactly the problem. "He already died twice, he lost his arm, I can't let him get hurt again!"

He grips his stick tighter, getting close to snapping it. "Things aren't getting any safer, and I can't... I--" He stops, swallowing down any further words.

Nature

[sunflowerfields]

The forest is wonderful and comforting, which is why Hinawa spends as much time as she can in it (at least when she's not cooking). The fruits and berries are bountiful, and before she knows it, she's following a trail of fruit cores that lead to even more abundant trees.

Suddenly, an apple core drops from above and lands at her feet, and she lets out a surprised yelp.

[kingsroads]

Things aren't getting any safer. And they won't get any safer when the carnival inevitably goes after the Mirror. And they certainly won't be any safer now that they're holding a general of the Summer Court prisoner somewhere.

"If you don't want Gongenzaka to get hurt, then you'll have to protect him yourself." Strange doesn't know Gon all that well, but if he's already died twice and lost an arm, it sounds like he's too reckless for his own good. They can't throw magic at the fae to stop that problem. But perhaps they can throw magic at Gongenzaka to keep him safe—or, at least, get him the hell away from where the problem is.

"How large can you make your shield? And do you know any teleportation magic? It can't be object based, it would need to be you moving Gongenzaka yourself."

The problem with things like 'a cufflink that teleports you to someone's trailer' is that people have to make a choice to use it. In an ideal world, Gon's not getting a choice.

[whattaprick]

“Of course I care!” Lambert bellows, startling Butcher again, who looks like he’s wondering if he should be stomping on Strange again.

“But you’re clearly fine, right? Fine enough to tell me you’re going to quit if I do something you don’t like.”

[kingsroads]

"You bound him, Lambert. I can't let myself get comfortable with that."

At least in Strange's mind, that carries a much heavier implication than just something he doesn't like. He doesn't like the training course, and yet he still does it. But binding someone like that is beyond the pale.

[whattaprick]

“We restrained him from killing us,” Lambert snarls. “Or would you rather he burned Rita and Syrlya to the bone?” ... Do Sylvari even have bones? Doesn’t matter.

The witcher shoves an arm at Strange, tugging a bandage back to reveal ugly, healing (and peculiarly somewhat scaly skin).

“Obviously, I should have bound you too!”

[hippocarnival]

"I know." His shoulders sink a little and his grip loosens, before he finally rips the rest of the marshmallow in his mouth, thinking as he chews.

"I don't know any magic like that." They talked about it before, at the Manor. "But he's the deputy now, so he has more responsibility to keep the carnival safe. That's what he does--he protects people."

Protects Yuya, and Yuya knows he can't just tell Gongenzaka to neglect his ideals for Yuya's own selfish desires. People need him.

He looks up at Strange and attempts to force a weak smile. It doesn't hold. "I know I have to be strong enough to protect Gongenzaka. Like he does for me!"

His gaze drifts down and he puts a hand over his chest. He knows his feelings, but they're still so hard to navigate into words why it's painful. What he's really afraid of, why what he's done he's sure has really broken Gongenzaka's heart.

"... I'd pay any price for that, but I don't want him to do the same for me."

[whattaprick]

Losing Strange’s weight makes it easier for Lambert to remain upright, which he does, still swaying slightly. No longer having to wrestle with a dead weight magician also means he can notice other things, like—

“Oh, for — is he even more on fire?”

[kingsroads]

Strange doesn't move as Lambert shoves his arm in his face. He winces slightly, but he doesn't look away, forcing himself to stand his ground and not let Lambert's horrible looking wound distract him.

"And then what? Would you have hurt me like you hurt Ignatius? What's your justification for that?"

[whattaprick]

“He’s our enemy! He’ll always be our enemy because of what he is and what he was made for! He said as much himself!” Lambert gesticulates.

“Obviously, you forgot that too!”

[kingsroads]

"Well he isn't mine!" And then all of Strange's issues with regards to Ignatius start to come pouring out. At the same time, one of his fists sets itself on fire again.

"I can't see the only person in this damn carnival who actually respects me as an enemy!"

Lambert's going to punch him for this but fuck it. He's already asked the Ringmaster if he could see Ignatius at some point, might as well get all this over and dealt with before that happens.

[anti_nonsense]

"For one, because we're both dedicated to collecting information. Information that the Summer Court now has," she begins through gritted teeth. That, of course, is one of her concerns. But it's far from being the only one.

"And for another... because we both have somewhere we need to get back to." Rita doesn't look at him as she says it. She says somewhere, but what she really means is someone. "You know there are a lot of ways this could have gone wrong, right? What if we weren't able to summon and bind the two of you? Ignatius could have just kept you away, left you in the gardens, or dragged you off somewhere far away in the multiverse, and we'd never see you again, and you'd never find your way back!"

[anti_nonsense]

We'll be fine. Probably.

[She sounds unconcerned.]

Anyway, you're new around here, right? [Relatively, anyway. Rita doesn't pay that much attention to who comes into the carnival and when.] What's your name?

[anti_nonsense]

9S's first question is met with a confused look. Of course it's hard to tell; it's a dream.

"Well... maybe. It's not that weird for any of those things to show up in a dream of mine, but... something about it seemed kind of different this time." Still sitting up and half-covered by the sleeping bag, Rita folds her arms as she considers why that is.

But she also wonders: "Do you dream, when you're in sleep mode?" It's only now that she realizes she has no idea if androids can do that or not.

As they're talking, Francis suddenly springs up at the trout, latching on to it with his claws and sinking his teeth into it.

[anti_nonsense]

It's true... Rita doesn't want to go down that path, either.

But his next question gives her pause. "...They have to, right? That's why we're..."

Something isn't adding up, and through the jumbled threads of half-formed thoughts that Rita has mixed around in this dream-logic, there's a moment of lucidity. "What are we going to do with them...?"

[anti_nonsense]

"Exactly. Maybe if he was taken seriously as a threat that first time around..." Rita tenses for a moment, then sighs.

"Ugh... Guess we just have to live with what's already been done," she grumbles, instead of continuing down that line of thought. If they dwelled on every mistake that was made, they'd have so much blame going around the entire carnival, including at Rita, that it'd take weeks just to talk about it.